Three major events altered the way the Premier 15s looks in season 2020-21, one long planned, one hoped for, one devastating.
It was the time for a spring-clean: some clubs were assured of re-admittance, others were not. Out went Firwood Waterloo and Richmond, in came Exeter Chiefs and Sale Sharks.
At the same time the RFU had to scramble around to find a new sponsor to replace the departing Tyrrells. To everyone’s relief the Allianz insurance giant came to the rescue, a far heftier company.
Then the thunderbolt of coronavirus. It served to delay the start of the new season and to make the job of assembling squads for the two newcomers infinitely harder.
The summer of 2020 proved to be one of the emptiest ever known in the world of sport. The Premier 15s did well to start as early as 10 October. The RFU introduced short-term law-amendments to increase player safety, but some leading figures were less than happy at the lack of proper safeguards to prevent Covid-19 spreading its tentacles even further.
Human contact is the breeding ground of the virus; rugby is especially strong in that field. Scrums were reduced but not abandoned entirely. Each club was entrusted to safeguard basic preventive measures.
Full testing was restricted to the professionals, the Red Roses. But they came back to their clubs to join in the fun of the new-look Allianz Premier 15s schedule.
After two early postponements the RFU must have hoped the worst had passed, but the slicing up of Round 7 – only three matches out of five survived – shows how shaky the enterprise remains..
At the moment spectators were readmitted to games disturbing news broke of two clubs affected by Covid-19, Saracens and DMPDS. That meant abandoning two games for Sarries, including the all-important first meeting with the league leaders, Quins, in what has been the show-game for all four seasons of the Premier 15s. It is delayed till 2 January. The players’ disappointment will mingle with thoughts of how best to celebrate the New Year.
How have the 10 clubs got on?
The introduction of Exeter Chiefs and Sale Sharks meant that, whatever playing standards the newbies could reach early on, they would have the top-class support so essential for high performance.
By Round 7 both clubs had registered victories. Sale had to be patient since their fixture-list pitted them against four high-fliers in the first five rounds. Their victory over Worcester Warriors was a cause of great rejoicing.
On the reverse of that coin Warriors’ loss is a matter of concern. One win in seven is far from Jo Yapp’s expectations. She had assembled a powerful looking squad over the summer. Among her signings (and re-signings) were: Alex Callender, Alex Matthews, Amelia Buckland Hurry, Caity Mattinson, Cara Clarke, El Febrey, Flo Long, Hannah Bluck, Heather Fisher, Megan Goddard, Paige Farries, Robyn Wilkins and Sioned Harries. Here we have a cohort of leading internationals, plus a number of U20 caps. But the results have been more in line with the club’s two and a half years of Tyrrells drought.
They are the only side to have lost to both the newcomers to the league.
Susie Appleby assembled her Exeter Chiefs squad painstakingly over months of zoom-calls and hard work. Once the side was close to full strength they showed their teeth by beating Worcester in Round 4. This was a landmark moment, confirming their right to be sitting at the top table. They are a thoroughly cosmopolitan bunch, players combining from countries as varied as Canada, Holland, Japan, Spain, USA, Wales and Cornwall.
Bristol Bears were one of the two clubs to fall foul of coronavirus early on. They had a strong win away to Sale before the newcomers had found their feet, but lost decisively at home to Gloucester-Hartpury in a key west-country derby (3-28). They scraped home by two points against Exeter.
They still haven’t been able to take off as a major contender in the championship stakes. You might call them sleeping giants, but sleep must have its limits.
Of the two university-based sides Loughborough Lightning have made a brighter start than Gloucester-Hartpury. They have been without Sarah Hunter for quite a while now, but the acquisition of some formidable Canadian forwards plus Abbie Brown and especially Helena Rowland has given them a sharp edge. They remain highly probable semi-finalists, but won’t have enjoyed seeing their pack lose out to Wasps in Round 7.
Glos-Pury went down to them by only 6 points in Loughborough, and may well step up their performances over the rest of the season. The sooner Zoe Aldcroft can make a recall to the ranks the better. They beat near-neighbours Bristol at a canter and gave Quins a hard ride, but they haven’t yet rid themselves of inconsistency.
Alongside Lightning, it is once more Wasps who are presenting the fiercest challenge to the perennial pack-leaders, Sarries and Quins. Giselle Mather signed up players in the summer like a middle-eastern potentate strengthening his Premiership football club.
After a first-round postponement Quins came visiting to prove too strong up front once again. Since then all their other opponents have had to sit up and take notice. It is the back-play which causes the loudest swoons. Megan Jones and Ellie Kildunne are combining to show they are enjoying their enforced break from their preparations for Tokyo. If the pack can remain steady under the severest pressure, the backs will produce the goods.
I have commented several times on Darlington Mowden Park Durham Sharks’ dire position. After six matches they had scored 14 points on the field and none in the league table. The RFU must investigate how far this was the result of bad luck, mismanagement, the pandemic or some other understandable cause. It owes it above all to the players.
That leaves the perennials. If you happen to support neither Sarries nor Quins, you could be forgiven for letting a sigh escape.
They are carrying all before them, as indeed they should. They have owned the bulk of top English talent for the last three years. Only Wasps come anywhere near to them in that respect this season.
Sarries have had to survive the transfer of Allianz’s affections from them to the league itself; their ground is once more the Copthall Stadium. The occasional request for donations can be found on their websites.
Their results thus far – 34-25, 40-10, 72-0, 43-5, 33-27 and 36-10 – reveal their familiar scoring ability, but against the stronger sides a less steel-plated defence than Alex Austerberry would like. That would be Quins’ greatest hope. They’ve beaten them before, but not in the two finals so far held.
Last year’s clash at the Stoop turned into one of the classics. Sarries achieved a second-half comeback which make Quins wince at the memory.
It would do the league a heap of good if one or other of them were to suffer an occasional defeat. At every level of rugby foregone conclusions are bad news.
Can the Premier 15s widen its support?
Here’s a revealing stat: of the ten top try-scorers after six rounds precisely three were backs.
That underlines the central role of a dominant pack. Sarries and Quins each have one. But it throws into doubt whether it’s the best advertisement for promoting women’s rugby. Will that style lure potential sponsors and media into offering their services? Or would they prefer the sparkling back-play offered by the current Wasps side?
Quins’ forwards have scored almost twice as many tries as their backs (30:17). For Wasps the position is nearer the reverse (14:23). Ah! I hear you cry. If only Quins had some half-decent backs. They have to make do with Riley, Packer, Scott, Green, Burford, Tuima, Breach, Cowell, Wilcock and Rollie! No, that argument falls flat on its face.
So who’s to blame? Surely it’s not their newly installed head coach, Gerard Mullen.
Sarries have never denied their reliance on an outstanding pack. Even so, their backs have ensured a better balance of tries than Quins (forwards 22: backs 14).
If Quins can go on steamrolling their way to victory, they may yet finish up as undefeated champions. But some of us might prefer to see Breach, Cowell, Rollie and Wilcock scoring the tries.
Is that the style of play to attract potential media offers? Perhaps. Either way, the hope must be that by next season a major broadcaster will be feel compelled to offer the Prem 15s to a wider audience.
To sum up
The good news has come in large doses. Playing standards go on rising; more games are being shown via livestream than ever before. One or two newspapers are finding space for reports. The England Sevens players and new signings from abroad have added huge zest to proceedings. And now spectators are even allowed to come and watch. The pandemic is far from over, but the elite women’s game is doing its darndest to thwart it.
